Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session of the Thirty-ninth Congress
Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward.
Sir: I transmit herewith a copy of a note addressed to me on the 6th instant by Lord Clarendon, touching the questions raised by the cruise of the Shenandoah, together with copies of the enclosed papers.
I likewise send a copy of my reply.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Lord Clarendon to Mr. Adams.
Sir: In my letter of the 19th January, replying to yours of the 28th December, of the subject of the Shenandoah, I had the honor to inform you that inquiries should be made into the conduct of the authorities at Melbourne during the time that that vessel remained at Melbourne, and that prosecutions should be instituted, under the foreign enlistment act against any British subject who might be proved, by trust worthy testimony, to have take service in that vessel, and I have now the honor to communicate to you the result of the action taken by her Majesty’s government in this matter.
The statements in the letter from the United States consul at Liverpool, which were enclosed in your letter, were founded mainly upon the affidavit of a man named William A Temple, described by the consul as being a very intelligent seaman, and also upon a statement made by a woman named Margaret Marshall, who swears that during her husband cruise in the Shenandoah, she regularly received an allowance which was paid to her have Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm & Co., of Liverpool. In Temple’s affidavit he dwells amount other things upon the civilities exchanged, and the intimacy maintained between the governor and the officials at Melbourne, and the captain and officers of the Shenandoah, as upon the advice and assistance given by the government engineers at Melbourne, in the have pairs effected, while the Shenandoah remained in that port.
These statements were summarized in your letter under three general heads:
1. That the Shenandoah had left this country armed with all the means she ever had occasion to use against the commerce of the United States, that is to say, with the two I pounders which Temple swore were mounted upon her decks when she sailed from London and which, according to him, were the principal guns used during the whole cruise.
[Page 129]2. That Captain Waddell had been made fully aware of the suppression of the rebellion the very day before he destroyed a number of United States vessels in the sea of Okhotsk; and,
3. That the list of the crew, as furnished by Temple, effectually set at rest the pretence of Captain Paynter, of her Majesty’s ship Donegal, that there were no British subjects on board the Shenandoah.
Taking Mrs. Marshall’s affidavit first, I have the honor to state to you that Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm & Co. declare the above statement to be untrue, and that they never paid any money to her or to the wife of any other seaman of the Shenandoah. I have the honor to enclose a copy of a letter on this point from Mr. F. S. Hull of Liverpool.
Passing on to the affidavit of Temple, I have the honor to call your attention to the annexed copies of two further letters from Mr. F. S. Hull, in which, by direction of Captain Waddell, he refutes the charge made against that officer of having destroyed United States vessels after he knew the war was over. It is no part of the duty of her Majesty’s government to defend Captain Waddell’s character, but as the charge was set forth in a letter which I had the honor to receive from you, I think it right to place you in possession of the answer which he has made to the charge, the more especially as you will learn from Mr. Hull’s letters that the man Temple, before offering himself to the United States consul as a witness, had already volunteered his services to Mr. Hull, and that though Temple knew he was born in Madras, and had never been in America, he, nevertheless, offered to swear that he was born at Charleston. Under these circumstances Mr. Hull refused to have anything to do with Temple, who thereupon transferred his service to the United States consulate.
Under all the circumstances connected with this man, as above explained, and as they appear in the papers which accompany this letter, her Majesty’s government consider that they are justified in regarding him and his affidavits as unworthy of credit.
I next proceed to notice the statement about the two 18-pounders, for the purpose of saying that her Majesty’s government have every reason to believe that that statement is not true, and I beg leave on this point to refer you to Mr. Hull’s letter of February 28, in which it is explained that the two guns which were mounted on the Shenandoah, when she left the river, were two signal guns.
The next point is the conduct of Captain Faynter, of her Majesty’s ship Donegal, and I hall leave it to that officer to explain, in his own language, the circumstances of the case, and the course which he pursued with regard so the crew of the Shenandoah. Annexed you will find full extracts from the report on the subject made by that officer to her Majesty’s government.
I shall equally allow the governor of Vici soria to speak for himself with regard to the alleged intimacy between him and the government officials at Melbourne and the captain and officers of the Shenandoah, and also as to the aid and assistance stated to have been endered to that ship by the government engineer at Melbourne, and I therefore annex a copy of the governor’s report upon the subject, feeling assured that it will be accepted by our government as satisfactory.
It only remains for me to add, as regards the propriety of prosecuting under the foreign enlistment act any British subjects who might be proved to have taken service in the Sheancloah, that her Majesty’s government were advised that it would be quite impossible with any prospect of success to institute a prosecution upon the uncorroborated evidence of Temple, and that the efforts to procure other testimony of such a character as would justify her Majesty’s government in proceeding upon it have been unavailing.
I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c., at London.
Mr. Hull to Mr. Bateson.
Dear Sir: Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm & Co instruct us to inform you that they never paid her Margaret Marshall or any other wife, of any seaman of the Shenandoah, a sixpence any time.
Their name has, no doubt, been put into the mouth of an ignorant woman by the zealous detective who supplies information to the American consul.
Yours, truly,
W. G. Bateson, Esq.
Mr. Hull to Mr. Bateson.
My Dear Sir: From the little I have seen of Captain Waddell, I am satisfied that nothing would distress him more than to think that any respectable person should believe that he was guilty of destroying shipping after he was himself satisfied, or even entertained any reasonable doubt, as to the termination of the war.
I am sure that if her Majesty’s government want any information on this point, Captain Waddell will gladly give it. either to Mr. Greenwood or to yourself.
As I named to you to-day, Temple, alias Jones, is a fellow utterly unworthy of belief, and I am sorry that Mr. Dudley should be the dupe of such an unprincipled young rascal.
As I told you to-day, he volunteered to come to me, and after telling me that he was born in Madras, he said he was prepared to swear that he was born in Charleston, never having been in America in his life. I therefore declined his services, and he forthwith transferred them to Mr. Thompson, ex-detective, and thence to Mr. Dudley.
Captain Waddell has burst a blood-vessel since he came to this country, and is now in a very precarious state of health. I have not seen him for some months.
Believe me, &c., &c.,
W. G. Bateson, Esq.
Mr. Hull to Mr. Bateson.
Dear Sir: I have laid before Captain Waddell your letter of the 22d instant, and the letters and affidavit which accompanied it, and he desires through me to offer the following observations upon these documents:
Mr. Adams found in the affidavit of Temple three grounds of complaint, which may be briefly alluded to as follows:
1st. That the vessel was armed when she left London.
2d. That Captain Waddell continued to destroy American shipping after he was made aware that the war had ended.
3d. That the vessel was mainly manned by British subjects.
We deal with the last charge first. Captain Waddell assures me that he never enlisted any seamen at any British port, or within the jurisdiction of her Majesty’s government. He never asked any seaman what his nationality was, and had no knowledge whatever on the subject.
With respect to the second charge, Captain Waddell states that on the 23d of June he captured a vessel called the Susan Abigail, which vessel had sailed from San Francisco, about the 20th of April, on a trading voyage to the Arctic seas. She had newspapers on board, which contained the news of the surrender of General Lee, and also an address by President Davis to the southern people, issued from Danville, stating that the war would be carried or with renewed vigor.
Captain Waddell states that he did not destroy any vessels after the 28th June, and than he did not obtain information of the actual termination of the war until he fell in with the Barraeouta, on the 2d of August, when he at once disarmed his ship. Temple is a very young man, under twenty. He shipped as an ordinary seaman, and was at first employed as boy to wait on the officers in the steerage. He was disrated from this office, and put to duty on deck.
His affidavit contains a certain amount of immaterial truths, mixed with errors, and also every now and again a deliberate false statement. To several of these statements Captain Waddell offers the following observations. He says that he called on the governor at his official residence, but did not see him, and the governor never returned the call, nor took and notice of him; nor did Captain Waddell ever speak to him, either officially or privately Captain Waddell did not entertain any of the officials of Melbourne. It is not true that the government engineer rendered any personal assistance or advice. The inspection he mad was under the orders of his own government, as shown in the official correspondence. It is not true that the name of the Sea King was painted out before Captain Waddell took posses sion of her; it was not painted out until she had been a week or more in his possession it is not true that the Shenandoah cruised for a month off the Isle of Japan; it is not true that the vessel had on board two 18-pounders; it is not true that money and jewelry and other valuables were taken from the officers and crews of the captured vessel or that he put the captured crews in irons, in order to induce them to enlist; it is not true that Captain Waddell sent some of the marines among the men to tell them that they was all to be southerners when their names were called over before Captain Paynter. There are numerous other false statements in the affidavit of Temple, which Captain Waddell deems to be unnecessary to answer, but he denies the above, partly because some of them, if true [Page 131] would affect his personal character as a gentleman, and the others he denies because they are capable of being disproved by other evidence within the reach of her Majesty’s government, and will show how utterly unworthy of belief this young man Temple is.
Captain Waddell delivered up the Shenandoah to her Majesty’s government, and her Majesty’s government handed her over to Mr. Dudley. Mr. Dudley, therefore, had it in his own power to ascertain the fact that there were no 18-pounders on board the ship. When the vessel was handed over to Captain Waddell, at Madeira, she had two signal guns, which we understand were put on board her by the orders of her Majesty’s government when on her previous voyage she had carried troops for her Majesty’s government. Her Majesty’s governments have, therefore, the means of testing the correctness of this story.
With respect to Temple, I may myself add, that unsolicited he called on me on the 24th November last, and tendered his evidence on behalf of Captain Corbett. I asked him where he was born, and he said at Madras. I asked him when and where he had enlisted into the Shenandoah, and he said at Madeira. I then told him I could not with propriety accept his evidence, as it would compromise himself, as he was a British subject at the time of his enlistment. He then said he was prepared to swear that he was born at Charleston, and I declined to have anything to do with him.
I am, &c., &c.,
W. G. Bateson, Esq.
Captain Paynter to the Secretary of the Admiralty.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 22d of January last, with its printed enclosures from Mr. Alams, United States minister, to the Earl of Clarendon, and in reply, beg to state that having received instructions from you dated the with of November, 1865, to prevent the late confederate ship-of-war Shenandoah from coaling for leaving the port of Liverpool, I placed a guard of officers and men on board, and took upon myself the responsibility of preventing Captain Waddell, the officers and men, from heaving the ship until I had your authority for so doing.
For three days the Shenandoah lay at anchor in the waters of the Sloyne, and had there been the slightest desire on the part of any person at Liverpool during her detention to give evidence that any of her crew were British subjects, every facility would have been afforded them by myself, the custom-house officers on board, and Lieutenant Cheek, the officer in charge of the Shenandoah, but neither from the American consulate, the police, customs authorities, nor by magistrate’s warrant, was any information forthcoming. If there had been, should, of course, have supported the civil power.
With reference to the discharge of the crew of the Shenandoah, in compliance with your order of the 8th of November, 1865, I beg to refer you to my letter of the 9th of November, and also to the letters which I herewith enclosed, from Lieutenant Cheek and the paymaster this ship, dated the 26th of January, 1866.
On the subject of Mr. Adams’s remark, that Temple’s list will “set at rest the pretence of the officer sent on board that there were no British subjects belonging to the vessel,” I most courteously beg to say that to my knowledge the United States authorities had plenty of gents at their command in this port, who could have arrested under proper warrant any person suspected of infringing the foreign enlistment act on board the Shenandoah whilst under my charge.
As to the truthfulness or the falsehood of Temple’s affidavit, I have obtained evidence that young Indian, calling himself William A. Temple, did, one month after the crew of the Maenandoah had dispereed, sign before Mr. Thornley, (public notary,) an affidavit giving a it of the supposed crew, and that it appears by W. A. Temple’s own statement—
First, That he must have told a deliberate falsehood as to his nationality when he passed sound fund stated to me that he was an American seaman.
Second. That he considers himself defrauded by the confederate authorities of twenty-two sounds, due to him for wages.
Third. Mr. Woods, the landlord, of No. 108 St. James street, states no man of that name alged at his house.
Fourth. He admitted before Mr. Hamner, manager of the Sailors’ Home, that a considable portion of his affidavit, declared before Mr. Thornley, was false.
* * * * * * *
It appears to me scarcely possible whilst mustering out a crew to decide upon the nationally or birthplace of most of the seamen frequenting this port; the enormous shipping trade both America, and the facility with which tickets of naturalization as American citizens can obtained, secures absolute impunity in that respect, whilst the dress, style, and habits the mongrel crews who man the vessels of this sport are such complete disguises that I trust [Page 132] I may be pardoned, if as a British officer, accustomed during my whole period of service to the uniform and cleanly appearance of British men-of-war’s men, I could not pronounce on my own responsibility whether some of the dirty-drawling, ill-looking, gray-coated, big-bearded men, who passed before me as the crew of the Shenandoah, were British subjects or American citizens.
* * * * * * *
I have, &c., &.,
The Secretary of the Admiralty.
Mr. Warwick to Captain Paynter.
Sir: In compliance with your orders to report what I witnessed and heard on the occasion of the mustering of the crew of the Shenandoah, late confederate cruiser, on the evening of the 8th November last, I beg leave to state that I accompanied you on board that vessel to assist in endeavoring to ascertain whether any of the crew were British subjects; and to take notes and examine evidence in the event of information of having infringed the foreign enlistment act being laid against any individual.
On proceeding alongside the Shenandoah in the ferry steamer a number of the crew swarmed on board by the hawsers, but were persuaded by you to return to their ship.
I followed you into Captain Waddell’s cabin and heard you ask him on his word of honor whether he was aware of any British subjects forming part of his crew? He assured you that he was not; neither did he believe there were any among them, and that they had all been shipped on the high seas. You then came out into the officers’ mess place, called them round and asked if they were British subjects; they replied they were not, nor did they think any of the crew were.
At your request Captain Waddell directed the senior lieutenant to muster the crew, which he did from a book resembling a watch bill, and said to be the only muster-roll on board. Each man as he passed across the deck was carefully scrutinized and asked what countryman he was. Most of them stated that the came from one or other of the southern States. some were Sandwich Islanders and a few Portuguese, but none acknowledged to being British, and judging from their appearance and dress I did not think they were.
It was impossible, in the absence of any satisfactory proof, to have determined who were British subjects and who Americans. They were all so much alike, and the only means of ascertaining were those adopted by you, viz: questioning each individual as he passed a muster.
No information whatever was lodged against any one during the time we were on board the Shenandoah.
The crew appeared to me to be in a very excited state at having been detained on board for three days without any reason having been assigned or authority shown them for so doing and I have no doubt that any further detention would have resulted in a serious riot.
I have, &c., &c.,
Captain J. A. Paynter, Her Majesty’s Ship Donegal.
Mr. Cheek to Captain Paynter.
Sir: In compliance with your order calling on me to report the proceeding on board the Shenandoah during her detention at this port by the British authorities, I have the honor inform you that agreeably to instructions dated November the 6th, 1865, I proceeded in his Majesty’s gunboat Goshawk, under my command, and lashed her alongside the vessel.
In the evening Captain Waddell informed me that the vessel having been taken charge by the custom-house authorities he considered himself, the officers, and crew relieved from all further charge and responsibility of the ship, and that his authority over the crew would also end.
The following day (November the 7th) the crew requested that I would allow them land, none of them having been on shore for more than nine months I told them that under the circumstances it was not in my power to grant it, and persuaded them to remain quit for a day or two, till orders could be received from London.
They then demanded to see my authority for detaining them. I explained that I act under orders from you. They replied that you could have no charge of them without [Page 133] instructions from Earl Russell, the foreign office, or the American minister, as they were American subjects.
This evening, as on the previous one, I succeeded in pacifying the crew by reasoning with them.
On the following morning (November the 8th) the crew were getting riotous, and determined to remain on board no longer—eight or ten had already deserted. I therefore, in a letter to you, explained the excited state the crew were in, and that I had heard from one or two of the officers their determination to leave the vessel that evening at all risks; I should therefore he compelled to let them escape, or else detain them by force.
The answer I received from you was that I was to act up to your orders, and the crew were to remain on board, but that you hoped soon to have instructions from London.
I would call your attention to the excited state of the crew by their conduct in attempting to desert, many of them jumping on board the steamer and trying to conceal themselves when you came to muster and examine them, on which occasion I accompanied you into the cabin and heard you question Captain Waddell as to whether he believed any of his crew to be British subjects; he replied in the negative, and stated that he had shipped them all at sea.
On your questioning the officers they also made the same statement.
The first lieutenant mustered the crew from a book of his own—the only list found on board—and you stopped and questioned the men as they passed before you.
Each one stated that he belonged to one or other of the States of America.
The personal baggage of the officers and craw was examined by the custom-house officers, to prevent any American property being taken on shore.
On the evening of the 9th of November, you again came on board the Shenandoah, and met the American consul in the cabin of a tug he had hired to bring him alongside. He then promised to send an officer to take charge of her, as a captured confederate cruiser, on behalf of the American government.
On the 10th of November Captain Freeman came on board and took charge, under orders from the American consul, and in compliance with your memorandum I handed the vessel and stores over to him.
On my leaving the Shenandoah Captain Freeman hoisted the American ensign and pendant, and proclaimed her a man-of-war.
During the time I was on board I received no information, nor could I obtain any evidence, that any of the crew were British subjects. Had I done so, I should have arrested them, and immediately communicated with you for further instructions.
I have, &c., &c.,
Captain J. A. Paynter, Her Majesty’s Ship Donegal.
Governor Sir Charles H. Darling to Mr. Cardwell.
Sir: I have the honor to inform you, in reply to your despatch No. 8, of the 20th January, that I saw the officer commanding the Shenandoah upon only one occasion. That occasion was the celebration of divine service in the church which I attend habitually.
I did not know who the stranger was until I received information on the subject. After the conclusion of the service he called to pay his respects to me at my office in Melbourne I had not arrived at the office, and he left his card. He did not repeat his visit, and I have ever exchanged a syllable orally with that gentleman. After this statement, I need scarcely say that I was not entertained, either publicly or privately, by him on board his vessel, and that he was not entertained in any way by me I am certain that none of my ministers either offered to, or received from, him any attentione.
Captain Waddell and his officers were, I am aware, entertained at a dinner party at the Melbourne Club. This dinner was not given by the club, but by certain members of that association. I believe that some persons in the service of the civil government were among the hosts on this occasion. The entertainment, however, was a private one.
Some of the officers of the Shenandoah proceeded to Ballarat, I believe, upon invitation to attend a subscription ball. They were most enthusiastically received at that place, as they were by the commercial body of Melbourne generally. The gentleman whose name is represented by a blank in Mr. Temple’s statement was no doubt a southern citizen who had been the American consul in Melbourne.
If any functionary answering to the description of the English government engineer visited the Shenandoah, I am sure it was for the purpose of inspecting the progress of the work, and informing the government of the prospect of being relieved of the presence of the vessel.
[Page 134]It is quite possible, of course, that he made suggestions by which he thought that this object would be more speedily accomplished; but my impression is that the person alluded to is the engineer or shipwright who was employed by Captain Waddell, under the permission to repair which he received from me.
* * * * * * * * *
I have, &c., &.,
Right Honorable E. Cardwell, M. P.
Mr. Adams to the Earl of Clarendon.
My Lord: I have had the honor to receive your note of the 6th instant, together with the papers to which it refers, touching certain points raised in the course of the cruise of the vessel known as the Shenandoah.
I have read the evidence thus presented with great care, but I regret to say without materially changing my conviction of the substantial correctness of the propositions which it became my painful duty to advance. The attempt made to break down the character of the principal witness, Temple, appears to me more successful than the invalidation of the chief facts stated by him, corroborated as they are by much incidental testimony, which has since that time come to my knowledge. But as it seems to me likely to serve no useful purpose to either of the two governments or nations, to prosecute investigations into these painful details of a most unfortunate period to their harmonious relations, I shall pray your lordship’s permission to transmit, without further comment, copies of these papers to my government, which will, I doubt not, give to them the respectful consideration due to the source from which they immediately come.
I pray your lordship to accept; &c., &c.,
Right Honorable the Earl of Clarendon, &c., &c., &c.